| Background & aims: Only a limited number of studies have compared nursing home and community
residing elderly in terms of health-related issues. The present study aimed to compare nutritional status
and its associated factors between nursing home residents and community-dwelling seniors.
Methods: In this case-control, age- and gender-matched study in Tabriz (East Azarbaijan, Iran), elderly
subjects aged 65 years and older were recruited from nursing homes (n ¼ 76) and community (n ¼ 88).
Anthropometric, blood pressure and dietary intake measurements, as well as biochemical assays were
performed. Nutritional status (Mini Nutritional Assessment: MNA), cognitive function (Mini Mental State
Examination: MMSE) and physical performance (Barthel Index) were assessed and compared between
the two settings.
Results: Nursing home residents had significantly lower body mass index (BMI), limbs, waist and hip
circumferences, and diastolic blood pressure. Caloric and protein intake of the groups were similar, while
nursing home residents received lower amounts of many micronutrients and saturated fats and higher
polyunsaturated fats. MNA, MMSE and Barthel index scores were significantly different between the
groups, all of them in favor of the free living elderly (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p ¼ 0.014, respectively).
Laboratory tests revealed significantly lower levels of hemoglobin, folate, fasting blood sugar, insulin,
albumin, prealbumin, creatinine and uric acid in the nursing home group; however, mean cell volume
(MCV) and HDL-cholesterol were higher in this group.
Conclusion: Elderly people living in nursing homes have lower BMI, suffer from many nutritional deficiencies
and are predisposed to malnutrition, impaired cognition and deteriorating physical performance,
compared to community dwelling seniors. |